


Practice

by Laurasauras



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Falling In Love, Kissing, M/M, Marauders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:28:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23088547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laurasauras/pseuds/Laurasauras
Summary: A typical James freakout leads to Sirius teaching the marauders how to kiss. It should be just as casual as the other times he's kissed people, but kissing Remus is different.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 24
Kudos: 217





	Practice

James was a pacer. Sirius sometimes looked at the floor of their dormitory and swore that he could see the path James took, because James’s body needed movement to think; the Quidditch plays and Marauders pranks and desperate grabs for Evans’s attention were all formulated under his heels. And usually, that was fine. But today, the unthinkable had happened.

Evans had laughed at one of his jokes.

‘I’m fucked!’ James said. ‘I’m completely and utterly buggered! How in the holy hell it is I am still on my feet is a mystery, because there has never been one as fucked as me.’

‘I dunno, I reckon my Minnie has seen a few good days,’ Sirius said. 

Remus threw a pillow at him. Sirius caught it and added it to the pile he was lounging on. 

‘No, you don’t get to be funny about this,’ James said. ‘You got your hand up that third year girl’s top in your first fucking week at Hogwarts, you’ve never been in my shoes and are therefore banned from contributing.’

‘Mate, if you’re banning everyone who has more experience than you, I think this is going to be a solo affair,’ Peter pointed out. ‘Even Moony kissed Mary at the end of year party last year.’

‘Mary kissed Moony,’ Remus corrected. ‘Or tried. I’m fairly sure the tongue is supposed to stay inside either your own or your partner’s mouth, it was like she was doing a Padfoot impersonation.’

James let out an anguished noise. 

‘What if _I’m_ like Padfoot,’ he asked. His pacing was getting faster with his agitation. ‘What if I’m _worse_ than Padfoot? What if I don’t even realise that I’m the worst kisser in the world? Someone has to be! That’s how things work, somewhere out there is the worst kisser in the world, walking around and he doesn’t even know it, except he does because he’s me!’

Sirius decided he’d had enough of all this. Any tantrum that lasted more than ten minutes was in danger of becoming unfunny, and he’d seen too many Evans-related tantrums to get any amusement out of James’s misery. 

‘So just practice, idiot,’ Sirius said. 

‘On _who!_ Merlin, no, I’d feel like the worst human in the world to use a girl like that, not to mention it would _not_ help my case with Lily at all!’

‘Lucky you’ve got the best kisser in the world in your dormitory,’ Sirius said. ‘I mean, no guarantee that you’ll even want Evans after you’ve sampled the goods, but I’m used to dealing with people who are uncontrollably in love with me, I’m sure our friendship can sustain it.’

James stopped pacing and looked agape at Sirius. Sirius looked over at Remus and Peter and saw that they too were looking their own, less extreme versions of surprised. 

‘What? You have a problem, I have a solution.’

Sirius honestly didn’t understand the hangups the rest of the world had about sex (though he had his suspicions that maybe France was on his level, _fuck_ England). His first kiss had gone fine, exactly because he hadn’t been overthinking it and because he hadn’t been absolutely plastered or anything. He’d gotten better because unlike the rest of this repressed fucking castle, he didn’t pretend like teenagers weren’t horny literally all the time. 

He didn’t even have to work for it most of the time. Okay, so he flirted with anything that moved, and a few things that didn’t, but he didn’t chase people like James chased Evans. Girls and sometimes boys just came to him, assumed he was up for it, and he generally was. It felt awesome most of the time, and good even when it was only okay, and it was definitely something to do. Something to earn the jealous, loathing looks his brother shot him across the hall. Regulus looked enough like Sirius he could probably get away with it too, but he had never, would never, have his confidence. Sirius had made an art out of not caring, and it earned him at least as much love as it cost him.

Here, in this room, the other Marauders saw right through it. He kept his casual pose on his cushions, and hoped they’d let him get away with it. They did, sometimes. They all let each other be their public selves, even when they knew better. They let James play with the snitch so it was second nature when Evans was around or on the off chance someone might walk by and see him. They let Remus go to McGonagall and tell her he’d heard they were planning something, let him dob them in and wear his too-big cardigans and never let on to anyone that he had the best plans or the filthiest mouth out of any of them. They happily spread a rumour that Peter had the biggest dick any of them had ever seen and didn’t make fun of him when he started to believe it himself. 

‘This … is not a solution,’ James said doubtfully. 

‘Look, I’m a good kisser. I’m good at everything, but let’s leave it at kissing for now as you clearly can’t handle anything more. I’ll just kiss you, show you how it’s done, you won’t make a tit of yourself with Evans or, far more likely, some other bird when you’ve finally figured out Evans won’t ever fuck you, presumably at the age of 65.’

James looked nervously at Remus and Peter.

‘I’ll kiss them too,’ Sirius said dismissively. ‘It’s weird it’s taken us this long to think of it, you guys could obviously use the help.’

‘Ta, Sirius,’ Remus said dryly.

‘I won’t lick your face unless you ask me to,’ Sirius said, arching his head so he could look at Remus upside down and wink at him.

‘Kinda seems like this is the only way, James,’ Peter said. Sirius straightened and grinned at him. ‘Like, obviously it’s not actually gay if it’s all of us and for … educational purposes or whatever.’

Sirius laughed. Of course Peter would figure the more men involved, the less gay it was. It wasn’t like he wanted any of his friends like that, he didn’t really want anyone in particular. This was just a lot more interesting than James whining and kissing was fun. 

‘He’s right, Prongsie,’ Sirius said. 

‘Remus, please, be the voice of reason,’ James begged.

‘Just let him kiss you,’ Remus said, smiling in that cheeky way he had when he was behind the worst of their plans. ‘He’s got an idea in his head now, you know they don’t come to him or leave him easy.’

James looked at Remus helplessly for another second, then Peter, and finally back at Sirius. 

‘You don’t actually have to,’ Sirius said, careless now he knew he’d won. ‘It’s okay to be scared.’

It was an old trick, but endlessly effective. James reacted how he always did, by jumping on top of Sirius and tackling him off the bed, hitting him over the head several times for good measure. Sirius was broader than James, but couldn’t get past that kind of direct attack, so he didn’t fight until they were on the floor, and then he managed to get the upper hand, flipping James onto his back and pinning his wrists to the floor. 

‘This how you imagined your first kiss going, Potter?’ Sirius asked, grinning. 

‘Honestly?’

Sirius rolled his eyes and leaned down, slow enough that James could scramble away if he really didn’t want it, but fast enough to keep him from agonising about it.

Their first kiss was easy, closed mouthed and soft, with James’s radial pulse racing under Sirius’s fingers. Sirius kissed him again, showing James how to move their lips together, that gentle indication that he should open his mouth. James got some of his confidence back then, and practically shoved his tongue in Sirius’s mouth. Sirius pulled back, laughing.

‘Every bloke, I swear to Merlin,’ he said. ‘Fucking let me lead, idiot!’

James smiled sheepishly and Sirius rolled his eyes. Sirius bent down and kissed him again, going deeper faster, overwhelming James so he wouldn’t attempt to take control again. This time when their tongues met, it was better. James really didn’t have anything to worry about, he paid attention and picked up on Sirius’s movements. They moved well together, they always had. It was no longer about education, not for Sirius at least. He just liked kissing. 

But it was James, and while Sirius didn’t see why people got hung up on this thing and he’d played it off before, he knew that everyone would be miserable if James thought this was more than it was. He pulled back, licked James from chin to hairline to ruin any established mood, and then rolled off him.

‘Are you an expert now, James?’ Remus asked, his voice dry with that undercurrent of humour.

‘Fucking hell,’ James said. ‘Give me a minute, I’m processing the fact that my best friend’s tongue was just in my mouth and he wasn’t even a dog at the time.’

‘Is class in session, boys?’ Sirius asked, waggling his eyebrows and Peter and Remus.

‘Go on then,’ Peter said. 

James laughed slightly hysterically. He wasn’t moving from the ground. Sirius patted his foot affectionately and got gracefully to his feet, moving to Peter’s bed. 

‘Alright, Pete?’

‘I mean, you can’t ask a girl if you’re shit, right?’ Peter said. ‘I’ve always wondered.’

Sirius dropped onto Peter’s bed next to him and motioned him to lean in. He looked like he was restraining himself from being too eager. Sirius met him halfway.

Peter wasn’t as good as James, despite the fact that all of the Marauders were kept very up to date on every kiss he’d ever had. He was just kind of limp, there but not responding. Sirius bit him and Peter jolted back, but he finally kissed back. 

‘Good man,’ Sirius laughed. ‘You’re fine, Pete, but you gotta move too.’

Peter nodded earnestly. Sirius leaned back on his arms and looked over at Remus. 

‘Your turn Moony?’

‘I’m fine, actually,’ Remus said. 

‘What?’ James said, outraged. He’d finally managed to get himself into sitting position. ‘No way! You can’t be the only one of us that Sirius hasn’t snogged. This is like, a rite of passage now, right Wormy?’

‘You gotta,’ Peter agreed. 

Sirius gave Remus his best smile. Remus remained unaffected. Right, Remus was the only one who never gave him everything he wanted. Still, Sirius had to try. He dropped lightly onto his feet in a predatory crouch, exaggerating the movement. 

Remus watched him with distant amusement, as if this was just another one of Sirius’s antics and it wasn’t real or anything. Sirius climbed onto Remus’s bed, still pretending to stalk him. Remus let him get so close Sirius nearly stopped of his own accord before he put his hand on Sirius’s shoulder and kept him from advancing any further.

‘Remus,’ Sirius said. It was one of his favourite words to say, he could roll his ‘r’ and take almost physical pleasure in the way it felt in his mouth. 

‘Sirius,’ Remus said, calmly. 

Sirius honestly thought that Remus wasn’t going to let him, that he’d be forever wondering what it felt like to kiss one of his closest friends, but before he had the chance to protest the unfairness of this, Remus acted. He rolled his eyes, and then the flat palm on Sirius’s shoulder gripped his shirt instead, and instead of being pushed away he was being drawn nearer. Remus wasn’t letting Sirius kiss him, he was doing the kissing. It made Sirius’s heart seize in excitement, that he couldn’t have predicted that but maybe he should have.

Remus shifted a bit closer, and Sirius felt that in his heart too. He wasn’t entirely in control, he didn’t even think he was being used for the experience, something that went way beyond kissing James and Peter. He was used to that, to it not meaning anything but curiosity, but Remus wasn’t curious. Remus knew.

Sirius reached up and tangled his hand in Remus’s hair, and Remus made a low sound as Sirius’s fingers tightened. Sirius felt his stomach drop with realisation. This was real. Remus was liking this. Sirius drew back, met Remus’s eyes, and kissed him one last time. He needed to, to reassure him that it wasn’t an abrupt stop brought on by any kind of revelation. Remus looked different when he’d been thoroughly kissed. Sirius grinned and turned around so that he was facing the same way as Remus and leaned against his headboard. 

‘So?’ James asked. ‘Ranking, please.’

‘Kisses cannot be ranked,’ Sirius said in a lofty voice. ‘Each kiss has its own merits.’

‘Bullshit,’ Peter said. ‘You have ranked so many people to us over the years.’

Sirius grinned. He held up his hands and made a motion as if to calm a non-existent rabble down. 

‘Fine,’ he said. ‘Remus is best, James is a fast learner and Peter is lucky he has a cute bum.’

‘Hang on,’ Peter said. ‘Am I pleased or cross with that assessment?’

‘You’re satisfied, because you know it’s true,’ Sirius said, his tone over-solemn. ‘Besides, stiff competition, no pun intended.’

Remus’s gaze dropped to Sirius’s lap next to him and Sirius shoved him, laughing. He could see it going that way with Remus, far too fast for comfort or company, but he could keep himself under control for a couple of minutes.

‘Sirius,’ James began, sounding uncharacteristically sincere. ‘You like blokes, right?’

‘I just like sex, mate,’ Sirius replied easily. ‘The idea of being firmly bent or straight … bit restrictive, isn’t it?’

‘I’m not saying you’re not a good kisser,’ James said. ‘That was sure … That happened, that was a kiss, you …’

‘You may arrive at a point any time you wish,’ Remus said.

‘I didn’t _feel it,’_ James said. ‘You know, the … like I dunno, maybe I could do it like you do it with a bloke, just to feel something that’s not my own hand, but it’s not like I’m attracted to watermelon and I’d still fuck a watermelon.’

‘What’s the watermelon wearing?’ Peter joked. James threw his pillow at him. 

‘I’m not about to write sonnets for you, if that’s what you’re worried about,’ Sirius said. ‘I dunno, I guess I know what you mean? Gideon was …’ Sirius whistled lowly. ‘He had me going to him.’

‘Your bar’s not exactly high, is it?’ Remus said. 

Sirius shrugged. 

‘Potters clearly have a talent for it, don’t they, for that “love” thing.’ Sirius made finger quotes and batted his eyelashes at Remus, who just smiled sadly at him. Sirius turned to James instead. ‘The way you are with Lily, your folks … Blacks don’t go for that. If it wouldn’t cause me to get hexed halfway to the moon I’d break back into Grimmauld Place and nick my parent’s wedding album to show you. Not that I can blame either of them for not being into each other, they’re so very them. But you’d hope, wouldn’t you, that you’d look a little bit pleased at least while the photographers were around.’

‘No marriage on your cards then?’ Peter asked.

Sirius was suddenly uncomfortable. This was supposed to be a fun diversion. He didn’t know when it had turned into an interrogation on his romantic prospects. 

‘I’m going to marry Jamie when he finally gives up on Evans,’ Sirius said, faking his bravado and leaning just a little into Remus. Remus had the habit of intervening when he saw things getting a bit close to sore spots.

‘Does that mean it’s you and I, Pete?’ Remus said, sighing massively. ‘Well, I won’t pretend I didn’t see it coming. You’ll carry the children, of course.’

‘Ha ha,’ Peter said.

‘I’m not joking,’ Remus said, leaning just a bit more into Sirius. He had his back. ‘You have heard of this, haven’t you? What’s the use of magic if we can’t perform miracles every now and again. I couldn’t carry the children, I transform into a werewolf once a month, I have to imagine that’s worse than drinking while pregnant.’

Peter looked with wide eyes to Sirius and James. Unfortunately, among their many strengths as pranksters, they had not been blessed with Remus’s gift for bullshit. James started to giggle almost immediately, which set Sirius off too. 

Sirius thought, all in all, that he could consider it a successful night.

*

Kissing James and Peter had been about as eventful as kissing a random Hufflepuff giving him eyes after Transfiguration. Sirius caught James continuing to have his mini crisis about it all, but that went away after a few days. What didn’t go away, was what Sirius had learned about Remus. 

Regardless of any other preferences involved, Remus had enjoyed kissing Sirius. Remus, with a trunk that was 90% books and cardigans, was possibly the best kiss of Sirius’s life and of the two of them, it was Sirius doing the mooning about, hoping for another excuse. 

Sirius brainstormed enchanted mistletoe (out of season), drinking games (but Moony only got drunk at the end of term parties) and ways to end up accidentally locked in a broom cupboard or something together. Worse than that, he was _staring._ And he’d noticed some troubling things.

Remus, who up until recently was still an eleven-year-old in a too-big cardigan who looked over his reading glasses to tell him off in Sirius’s mind, was kind of fit. It was still in a cute way, rather than a hot way. The four of them had debated at some length the differences between “cute”, “hot” and “sexy”. And other words, actually. And at times, though Remus was _always_ “cute” and this could be tolerated, he had drifted into “sexy” territory and it was fucking with Sirius’s mind.

He’d found people attractive before, but usually in a more intellectual way. Like he could see what other people might get out of it. He didn’t really care if someone wasn’t a conventional beauty, he liked when someone looked interesting, and he closed his eyes when he kissed people anyway. It very rarely felt _real,_ it was just something to do, to feel.

He hadn’t kissed anyone since Remus. He was afraid that the comparison might … he didn’t know what it might do, actually. He just knew, somehow, that he needed to avoid it.

Of course, Sirius had never done well with inactivity. There were too many hours in the day and nobody could keep up with him. Pete was tired just from going to class, Quidditch training knocked James out, and Remus just sat in his armchair and read or watched the rest of the house. And now Sirius had time in his schedule and a particular brand of frustration that made him feel even more pent up.

It was a relief when the full moon came around, if only because everything felt simpler as Padfoot. He had been tempted to take refuge in his doggy shape plenty of times, but quite apart from needing to keep the secret, they’d all read far too many stories of wizards spending so much time in their Animagus forms that they forgot how to change back for Sirius to want to rely on his powers. It was with a kind of hysterical amusement that they noticed animalistic tendencies in each other.

James had this way of taking a lot of very small steps very quickly when he was startled. Pete stretched up tall when he was curious like a rat scenting the air. Sirius had been susceptible to praise _before_ he became a dog once a month, James said Sirius’s whole body perked up as if his tail was going to start wagging now. 

McGonagall told Sirius once, when they were relying on the already established way he got obsessed with learning everything about topics to get information about the process, that she once had found herself in a dangerous situation in Paris and had transformed into her cat form without thinking about it. She was kept in a cage too small to transform while in for over a month, and her more feline attributes were intensified by the extended time. 

(Sirius still hid in Padfoot when his nightmares are too much to manage even though the thought of losing himself terrified him. But tiring himself out was usually enough.)

Still, the full moon was the time when they were allowed (by their own standards of “allowed”), when it was completely and undeniably a good thing that they had animal bodies. They waited, Padfoot panting softly at Prongs’s feet, Wormtail clinging to Padfoot’s shaggy fur until the screams stopped. Until Wormtail could set a werewolf free at a school. It was insane that they did this and so, so worth it. 

Moony was excited to see them, his massive form dwarfing even Padfoot’s wolfhound size. And with very little of Remus at the reins, Moony didn’t hesitate to run right into Padfoot, crashing into Prongs as he overshot the tackle. Prongs and Padfoot eagerly herded him deeper into the forest, towards the best and acromantula free spots. 

One of the reasons Sirius looked forward to the full moon so much was because while Prongs was probably better at stopping the wolf from escaping to Hogsmeade, Padfoot was undeniably the best playmate. Once they’d got over their initial running, working out some of that supernatural energy from Moony, Padfoot nipped playfully at Moony’s cheeks, at his heels, wrestling together until they were both panting on the forest floor. Wormtail perched on Prongs’ antlers where he couldn’t be trampled, and then tugged on Padfoot’s ear, pointing up at the night sky. Time to take Moony back to the Shack.

It was one of those blessed full moons that fell on a Friday night. Having a whole weekend to recover instead of all of them dragging themselves through classes was a rare luxury. They never skipped after a full moon, because Moony only did when he was forced to stay in the hospital wing and even then they’d feel guilty about not bringing him notes. If he could manage class after the torture of his transformation, they could manage on a sleepless night.

But as it was Saturday, James and Peter took control of making a truly excellent pillow fort. Sirius attempted to help, but James told him to go and wait to pick Moony up instead. It was the easiest job, because it mostly involved sleeping in the visitor’s chair. It was also the best job, by Sirius’s measuring, because Remus was usually the least tactile of them but he accepted help walking back to the common room and it was almost like getting a hug.

Remus touched Sirius’s knee to wake him up, fully dressed in his robes and looking tired, but okay.

‘I seem to be gaining more control,’ he said wryly. ‘Directing my temper onto the environment rather than myself.’

‘What temper?’ Sirius scoffed. ‘You’re a kitten, really.’

Remus smiled. Sirius stretched before standing, holding his arm out to take some of Remus’s weight. Remus only hesitated slightly before stepping into Sirius’s side and wrapping his own arm around Sirius’s shoulders. 

‘If you can’t walk on your own, you should rest longer,’ Madam Pomfrey said, appearing almost from nowhere with a potion in her hand. 

‘Please, Poppy,’ Sirius said, giving her a flirty smile. ‘He just can’t keep his hands off me. Who could blame him?’

Madam Pomfrey sighed, but bustled past them to tend to her other patients. Remus poked Sirius in the side, but didn’t move away. He _could_ walk on his own, but they knew by now that if he just accepted the fucking help and didn’t push himself, he recovered faster. 

They were just going past the statue of Gregory the Smarmy when Remus stopped walking. 

‘Come in here for a second,’ he said, nodding towards the secret passageway. 

Sirius helped him in the small space without arguing. It was more cramped now than it had been when they discovered it in second year. They sat on the floor rather than crouching in it. Sirius looked at Remus curiously; it wasn’t like him to ask for a break unless things were dire, and he hadn’t even been leaning that much on Sirius. 

‘I’m saying this now because it’s a full moon and you have to be nice to me,’ Remus said. Sirius smirked approvingly at the cunning and leaned against the dusty wall of the passage. ‘You won’t stop staring at me. And I noticed … I mean, it could be directed somewhere else, but I get a better sense of smell in the lead up and …’

‘Moons,’ Sirius said quietly, leaning forward again. His heart was beating much too loudly and he was terrified that Remus was going to ask him to stop. He couldn’t disrespect Remus’s boundaries, but he didn’t know _how_ to stop. He hadn’t felt this before.

‘No, Sirius, just let me get this out.’ Sirius made a valiant effort to smile at the way it almost sounded like Remus had prepared for this, written himself up cue cards like it was an exam. ‘You’re acting like you’re interested in me, but you don’t get interested in anyone. And it’s confusing as fuck, so I just want you to tell me one way or the other so I can just ... know.’

‘You’re a very interesting bloke,’ Sirius said weakly. Remus met his eyes sternly and Sirius sighed. Truth, then. ‘Yeah. Sorry. I don’t know how I missed it, you growing up all … nice. I can, I dunno, I can probably just wait it out though. I’m not James.’

‘You like me,’ Remus said. 

‘Yeah.’ Sirius resisted the urge to apologise again.

‘Right,’ Remus said. ‘Right, well I suppose …’

There was a pause, where they both waited to see how Remus would finish that sentence. The passageway was only dimly lit, and while Sirius had grown quite good at reading the subtleties of Remus’s usually placid expression, he just didn’t know what he was thinking. And then Remus shifted so he was on his knees, leaning towards Sirius. 

‘What are you doing?’ Sirius asked, staying where he was against he wall.

‘I was _trying_ to just kiss you so that I didn’t have to talk about my own feelings, but you’re all over there.’

‘Oh,’ Sirius said. _’Oh.’_

He scrambled to get on his own knees, and then nearly fell over on top of Remus when his balance failed him. 

‘You’re supposed to be good at this,’ Remus teased.

‘Shut up,’ Sirius muttered, reaching for Remus’s robes. 

Kissing was easy, even when it was as momentous as kissing _Remus,_ but Sirius was utterly unprepared for what it would do to him once he started. 

It wasn't like it had been in the dormitory, when Sirius was so very aware of the other boys there. It was fierce and messy, and he had no idea who had made it that way. Passion. From Moony. Whose smiles were a precious gift and who even ate with refined movements when the moon made him starving and who never raised his voice except that one time when he went all out on karaoke. 

Sirius whined against Remus's lips and pressed himself closer, only remembering that he should be gentle when Remus flinched away from Sirius's hand on his shoulder. Sirius pulled back, concerned. 

'Just a bruise,' Remus said carelessly. 'Come back.'

'Remus,' Sirius said. 'It's the _day after_ the full moon. This can wait.'

Remus stared at Sirius with almost vicious longing, an intensity that shot right through to Sirius's soul. He very nearly gave in. 

'Moons.' Three weeks of helpless pining and he was having to be the responsible one. Him. 

Remus ran a hand through his hair, disrupting the neat comb marks in it. Sirius had always liked the look of a ruffled Moony. He liked him all pretty and perfect too. He'd told him before and Remus had laughed and shown him a hole in his too-big cardigan. It was still perfect though. 

'You're right,' Remus said. 'I'm being a bit of a prick, aren’t I?’

‘Nah,’ Sirius grinned. ‘You’re golden. I do tend to evoke this kind of enthusiasm.’

‘Right,’ Remus said, sitting back and out of reach. 

Ah, shit. Sirius hadn’t meant to imply …

‘Don’t tend to feel it though,’ he mumbled, self consciously. ‘Reaching Potter levels of desperation over here. It’s bad for my skin.’

Remus laughed quietly. 

‘When you say it can wait …’ he said.

‘I mean that I’ll wait precisely until I see you stretch without it hurting and then you’ll have me in your lap before you even put your arms down.’

‘And if Peter and James are there?’

‘I assume they’ll leave fairly quickly. Don’t _think_ either of them want to see what I want to do to you.’

Remus crawled forward so that he was all close to Sirius again and brushed his hair back. It hung loose to his shoulders because it wasn’t a class day and he didn’t need to imprison it in its usual bun. Remus slowly moved until their noses were touching. 

‘Is this real, Pads?’ he murmured.

‘Yes,’ Sirius whispered. 

It was. Every breath he’d taken before then had just been a dress rehearsal for the rest of his life.


End file.
